The Russellville Democrat., 1887-02-16
Aunt Wash on the So-called
anaconda Mortgage.

| Gent proposition.
] have during the past year heard
and read many arguments pro and
con on the great evils of the present
mortgage system, from the address
of Judge Caldwell before the State
Bar Association in January, 1886, on
down to the howlings of the mob
now assembled at our state capitol
under the monde plume Of Legs
| lature.
] shall not call up the issues adj
vanced by Judge Caldwell, and SO
fully and ably defeated by your YER
satile and profound correspondent
s'B. j. E." but, as our own people
seem to be exercised over the sub
ject, | shall endeavor to discuss it as
whole, and respectfully invite an
! interchange of ideas.
FIRST. Looking to the intent Il e
the evil and the remedy of the leg
islature in the act of February IL,
1877, regulating the chattel mort
gage, that whole body seemed to rec
ognize the necessity of law upon
the subject that would entirely de
part from common law presidents,
and ensure summary remedy for
an existing evil. At the time this
law was made there was no law in
force making chattel mortgage on
crop "to be planted contract
surrounded with all the solemnity
and force Of mortgage upon person
al property; the merchant who dealt
in provisions, supplies, ETC., with the
| liberal and immovabla exemption
law staring him in the face, would
not dare to sell his goods to the
farmer who he knew to be execution
proof" however honest he believed
the latter to be. He knew that the
law surrounded the head OF family
with provision that though his
creditors were pushing him for a
settlement for the very goods he was
forced, by reason OF short crops and
shorter collections, to sell to the
farmer on credit, if the farmer chose
to take the benefit of his exemptions,
the merchants business might be
suspended, and his wife and chill
dren made to suffer the stings Of
poverty, did the latter see proper to
attempt collection by law. The
honest farmer and the honest labor
er, depending upon the merchant for
supplies to raise a crop or to perfect
labor, sought to secure the merchant
for his generosity by waving all
benefit of exemption laws; in exc
cutting mortgage under the then
existing law there was much cost
and expense necessarily involved !:
the mortgage in legal form. the &C
acknowledgement by the mortgagor,
/ the fees of the clerk for fling and
recording, all TO be paid by the mort
gagor were items of no small dimen-
sions, when the latter only wanted
supplies of small amount. Hence
the act referred to was one of con
venience; was enacted to meet the
exigency of the times, and, as con.
venient to all parties as human laws
can be made, giving to the parties
equal rights, and making the cost Of
executing as nearly nominal as any
sort OF circumstances will admit.
This was the evident intention of
the legislature in passing the act,
and has been so construed by the
courts.
There seems to be desire upon
! the part of that number of our leg
islative solons who desire to be ''re-
manded" in 1888 to so change this
law as to give to the mortgagor the
full and exclusive benefit thereof;
and the casual observer who resides
in another state would infer from the
number of bills presented during the
present session for the annihilation
an amendment of tie law that nine
out of every ten @. our safh. were
elected to legislate upon this let ~
alone. BE it ss'id to the credit ofIGuf
representative that he has not joined
in the howl. ] am patiently wait
ing and ygatching the progress of
these bills, and often wonder if the
mob will pass all the bills presented
on this subject? II they should do
so my fellow citizens, won't this
thing be fearful to contemplate?
Think of it-''lave in it innocent
manr' fourteen bills on chattel mort
cages and no two of them alike
When you go to the lawyer and ask
him to tell you what that law is he
/ will reply unto you, "my dear sir the
name of that law is Legion com
menced to study them out but gave
up the whole as an impossibility
when | got to CarlLee's amendment +"
There is absolutely nothing in this
law that needs amendment. AS al
ready stated the emergency of the
times demanded the enactment of
this law, and the same is as necessa
ry now to the transactions of COM
mevcia business as it was on the
day it became law.
Having accomplished, as / hope,
the object for which this article was
intended, viz: The evil that existed,
and the remedy applied by the leg
islature. shall closet or the present
| by reiterating a statement | made in
the DEMOCRAT some time ago, viz:
"That | have never seen more pa
tent lot of business men than the
merchants of Arkansas have been
with delinquent debtors; nor a more